Buddhist stupas

Nepal is an interesting cultural blend of native village populations, Buddhists and Maoists from China and Tibet, Hindus from India, and there is no escaping the all pervasive western influence from media and a large tourist based economy. This mix exists because of Nepal's geographic location, situated at the base of the Himalayan mountains, between it's much larger neighbors to the north and south. As a result, Nepal is a site where several important Buddhist stupas, and Hindu temples have been built over the centuries, that many make pilgrimages to.

Boudhanath is one of the largest Buddhists monuments in the world.

The outer walls are lined with hundreds of prayer wheels set into recesses that worshipers spin as they walk around the stupa.

I don't know the reason for this, but there are many small metal bowls set out in these courtyards which are filled with fresh water every day.

This elaborately decorated building serves as a place of worship, and houses a huge statue of Buddha that must be 20-30 feet tall.

There is also a giant prayer wheel in the entrance. You can gauge the size by the doorway.










I would guess this man is receiving some sort of blessing from this monk, but we came up with this irreverent caption, "This ribbon looks so nice on you".

Kathmandu street scenes

We had several days on our own in Kathmandu, so we decided to explore some of the city on foot and promptly got lost in the jumble of narrow streets that wind their way in every direction, except the one you want to go in. Next day we armed ourselves with a map and fared much better.

The first interesting sight we came across was a Hindu shrine with a fairly large tank, (a man made holding pond, typically with a monument on a central island) on which a couple of turtles were sunning themselves. The odd thing was the street dog, lying in the only tiny bit of shade on the island with no apparent way for him to get out of the pond. We wondered how he got there, and were concerned, but to our relief, he was gone the next day.
We also came across this old Banyon tree growing right out of the roof of a small shrine. Note the policeman, which you encounter everywhere, sometimes with not much more to do than smoke a cigarette.

These men, perched on top of this large wooden cart, that was in my guess 40 ft. tall, were assembling it in preparation for a Hindu new year parade. The whole assembly fit together like a giant set of Lincoln logs.

Many of the buildings had a lot of ornate decorations in brass and carved wood.

Street vendors were numerous. Here a lady has set up her sewing machine on a busy bridge, next to the fruit and vegetable seller, and the "mini-mart" under the umbrella.

This picture was taken from our guest house window to show how most people get their water. This well is dug down below street level, where the women collect the water in large containers, which they have to carry back up several flights of steep stairs. Later on our trek we would see people hauling water like this for long distances, up to their isolated mountain homes.

As in India, motorcycles are a major means of transportation. We often see whole families on one bike, or crazy items carried, but don't often have the chance to get a picture as they go whizzing by. Char got lucky this time as these guys were loading up this over sized carpet for delivery. The last we saw of them, they were holding up traffic, with blaring horns, as they wound their way through the busy streets. The driver must have had a pretty stiff neck by the time they reached their destination.

Kathmandu, Nepal

We took advantage of Char's two weeks off for spring break to escape the heat and humidity of Chennai, and took off for Nepal, where we had made arrangements for an "easy" four day trek in the hills. At Delhi we just made our connecting flight after a frantic run through terminals that seemed to have no end. Our destination was Kathmandu where we had several days to explore before we started our trek.

Kathmandu is a typical large Asian city. By western standards it is dirty and crowded, with crazy drivers blaring their horns, and shrouded in perpetual smog. On the plus side, the weather was perfect and there were many fascinating sights to see, good foods to eat and cool stuff to shop for.

Our guesthouse was located in a section of the city called Thamel, a world in itself, catering to tourists, the only place we have been where we saw as many white as dark faces. People had come from all over the world, primarily from France, Germany and other European countries, but also from the other Asian countries.

If you have any hippie in you, Thamel is a place not to be missed. We spent days exploring it's dark narrow streets that are lined with shops full of unusual handmade clothes, nick nacs, jewelry, and eating at restaurants serving up everything from traditional Nepal Curries, to Mexican. Though I don't think I look the hippie any more, I was often a target for street peddlers (who I politely declined) offering hash and marijuana, which grows like a weed around the villages.

The many colorful peddle rickshaws add to the ambiance around Thamel.

There is also some fascinating architecture around the city. Many of the buildings have elaborate entry doors, hand carved typically with Hindu deities. Other buildings have covered wooden porches that are supported by flying buttresses, all covered with ornate hand carvings. Sadly many of these centuries old buildings are in disrepair, and we can only hope they won't be knocked down to make way for a new shopping mall.

Many goods are carried through the city in the traditional style by porters who carry incredibly huge loads by means of a sling over their forehead.

Back at our guesthouse rooftop before a day of visiting some of the world heritage sites tomorrow.

Views from our balcony

There is always something interesting happening in the streets of Chennai. It is where women create their pavement art (Kolam), or men gather to drink coffee from the bicycle vendor. Religious, political and charity organizations have frequent rallies which often block traffic on major roads.


Many people make their living on the street. Rag pickers go through the garbage bins daily. Street sweepers have the impossible task of picking up litter and keeping the drains clear. Mobile vendors on foot, bicycle or push carts sell everything from apples to Umbrellas. Still others will stake out a bit of sidewalk where they won't be kicked out to set up shop for ironing, tailoring, or selling anything imaginable.


The street where we live is no exception. The photos in this post were taken from our first floor balcony (In India they use ground level, then first floor). The photo above is of women across the street creating an elaborate Kolam for Pongal, which is a major harvest festival in Tamil Nadu.

One morning we were greeted with the very loud sounds of a small marching band, playing a strangely syncopated, improvised music.

They were followed by a group of men from the local temple who were hauling a large cart on which a much adorned figure of a god sat under a huge umbrella. Residents then gathered around with some sort of offering, which was given to or draped on the deity.

That evening, about 10:00, they came down the street again. This time with a different god sitting on a huge, many headed cobra, and a generator to light him up.

This continued day and night for 10 days....................... We gave up trying to go to bed before 10 o'clock.

Eventually we learned that each temple worships different gods, and will hold a major extended festival in their honor, with many performances and other activities occurring at the Temple.

Beggars

Because I have not had to face a lot of poverty and disease in my life, I was apprehensive about beggars in India, and how I would react and deal with them. I am told that in Chennai beggars are not as prevalent as in the other big cities, but you still encounter them wherever people congregate, such as temples, churches and marketplaces.

You won't find any pictures on this post, because I don't feel right about photographing other people's hardships, but what you see sometimes is enough to break your heart.

The most annoying are those who don't have physical deformities. A typical scenario is the rail thin, poorly dressed women, holding a young baby in her arms, persistently tapping on the car windows at a stoplight at a busy intersection, gesturing that she needs to feed her baby. Harder to shake are children, sometimes sent by their mother, who have spotted a white face in the crowd. Unless you are very stern with them, and at times even then, they will follow you for blocks, hoping to get some money from the American. They assume all Americans are rich, and I suppose, relative to their situation, even most of the poorest of Americans are.

Harder to pass by are the lepers, who are missing all their fingers and their feet wrapped up in bandages, or the man dragging a wooden board through the crowded streets, on which a women with no legs is sitting. There are to many other equally wrenching encounters, like the pretty young teenage girl, soliciting money for her education with a pad and pencil, because she has no tongue.

For myself, giving something or not to these unfortunate people is not an easy question. It's hard not to feel compassion for them, but at the same time, you don't want to condone and perpetuate begging, and the sometimes terrible consequences, particularly when unscrupulous people may be willing to exploit these people for their own gain. But begging is a fact of life here, one of those things you are not going to change overnight, and just have to accept as part of the landscape. So the question still remains for me every time I pass a beggar, do I put a few Rupees into their hand, or drop it into the nearest charity collection box.

Pulicat Lake

A couple of weeks ago a school faculty member organized a day trip to Pulicat Lake located a couple hours drive north of Chennai. We were hoping to see an annual migration of flamingos which I am told will sometimes flock to the lake by the thousands. We never did see flamingos, but there were plenty of other sights to see.







Our departure point was a small fishing village, where these men were happy to show off their prize Marlin type fish they were loading for market.

At the beach we boarded 3 fishing boats for a day of sightseeing on the water.

Pulicat is a very large lake, but very shallow. The water is brackish, and only separated from the sea by a permanent sand bar. The lake is shallow enough that the numerous fishermen often use poles to maneuver their boats around. It was odd to see groups of men in water up to their chests in the middle of this huge expanse of water, as they set up their fishing nets.

More often the fishermen worked by themselves on their traditional boats, which are nothing more than several roughly shaped logs lashed together.

It is quite a sight to see the men cast and haul in their nets from these boats with amazing balance.

If the wind is favorable, sails are often set on the fiberglass boats.

At noon we were able to stretch our legs on the sandbar where the lake is open to the ocean.

Here we were able to watch the fishermen riding the surf, bringing in their mornings catch.

Life around the Temple

There is always a lot of activity that goes on around the temples. Besides the usual traffic and vendors, you will always find women stringing jasmine and other flowers into braids that are worn by the women in their hair, or used for offerings to the gods. Other vendors offer incense, coconuts and many other things that are used in various rituals.

Coming from a much colder climate, I am always surprised when I see someone with earmuffs or a knit scarf on their head in the "cold" season, when it might get down to about 70F.

This women was selling lemons and bundles of turmeric which is used for rituals this time of year. To many people here, their religion is a way of life, that is incorporated into their daily life. It seems that almost every day of the Hindu calender is full with some festival or other. There are also auspicious days when a person should or should not make important decisions.

The area around the Kapaleeswarar temple still has some traditional homes around, though sadly, many like this one are being torn down to make way for multi-story apartments. These older homes have wonderful courtyards that the living space is designed around, so you always have a lot of air and light. The courtyard is always recessed to catch the rain from the roofs.

Many houses have their own space reserved for a shrine for daily worship.